Boat Bottom Stripping Thunderstorms set us back a few days, but we were able to make progress after the storms. Today, Crystal Coast Industrial Coatings, went into full force on our boat bottom stripping with recycled glass. Johnny worked fast and did a great job, even working in the rain for a large portion of the day. In the end, he was able to get our Banjo-girl all finished up and stripped. Our epoxy barrier coat and bottom paint also arrived. The plan is to apply 3 coats of the…
Read MoreCategory: Buying Your Boat
Searching Everywhere
Few life experiences are as exciting, worry-some, thrilling and exhausting as buying your boat. For us, it took years of kissing frogs to finally find our princess. Boats come in all shapes and sizes, and degrees of upkeep. There are trials and tribulations in buying your boat, whether it be your first or your most recent
Research for the “Right” Boat for you
Before buying your boat, it helps to have a very good idea of what it is you are looking for. Do you want to go fast, or cruise? Does your boat need redundant systems, such as multiple engines or rudders? Where you plan to use your boat also determines physical characteristics the vessel needs to have. Having a 7-foot draft in a shallow-area will limit your use of the boat. What is your budget? What is your maintenance budget once you make your purchase? These and so many more questions need to be asked and answered before signing the check. Give yourself as much time as you need to fully understand what you are seeking and to prevent disappointment.
Buying Your Boat
Once you have an idea of what you are actually looking for, try to find vessels that match those criteria by either visiting marinas, looking at websites, or working with a broker.
Banjo’s New Bottom Paint: Day 1
A New Bottom Banjo has been on the hard for about a week and yesterday we began stripping the bottom paint to prepare for a new barrier coat and ablative coats. For more exclusive content, be sure to join us at SailingBanjo on Patreon. Also visit the other sections of our blog.
Read MoreSeason 1- Episode 2: Getting Banjo
Getting Banjo We have uploaded our second story-line episode named Getting Banjo to YouTube and Patreon. In this episode, with a LOT of help from some dear friends, we get all of our stuff moved out of the house at Lake Norman. We whittle down more of our junk. Also, we find out that we closed on Banjo. After a seven hour drive back to Brunswick, we spend our first night aboard. Then spend a couple days loading all of our stuff, and have a few boat drinks. Shawn is…
Read MoreSeason 1- Episode 1: Finding Banjo
Finding Banjo Thanks to the recent holiday downtime, Shannon and I were able to finally complete our first “real” video. We have lovingly named it Finding Banjo, and got it uploaded to YouTube and Patreon. In this episode, we meet Banjo for the very first time, and have our offer accepted. There is some sailing as we perform a sailboat survey and sea trial. There are some shots of a really cool looking historic courthouse, located in Brunswick, GA, that we stopped and visited while our shock wore off. We…
Read MoreBeautiful Taswell 43 All Season Raised Salon For Sale in New Bern, NC
Taswell 43 All Season Raised Salon Some friends of ours recently decided to put their beautiful Taswell 43 All Season Raised Salon bluewater cruising yacht up for sale by owner here in New Bern, NC. Her name is Onward and hails from Vancouver. We had only come across the Taswell name a few times during our boat search, and never had the opportunity to get aboard one. So, until now, we really had been unfamiliar with the Taswell, but quickly came to love Onward. Quick Tour Let me tell you,…
Read MoreHow It All Happened
We had no expectations that this trip would become the story of buying our first sailboat. Originally, we were down doing a survey and a sea trial on a different boat, a trawler. Afterwards, neither Shannon nor I were very excited about that particular boat. Shannon woke up early that next morning, we talked about our experiences and perspectives and decided to pass on the trawler. Since we had only seen one the boat, we jumped on one of the yacht listing sites and just so happened to notice the…
Read More